Can opening machine



Aug.-4, 1936. I J. 5. TOWNSEND, ET AL 2,049,379 I CAN OPENING MACHINEFiled March 10, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. 5. TOWNSEND ET AL ,0 9,879

Aug. 4, 1936.

CAN OPENING MACHINE Filed March 10, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/I 1/ lPatented Aug. 4, 1936 v UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE w 'CAN OPENINGMACHINE John s. Townsendand LeslieR. Tansley, Chicago, Ill., assignorsto Wilsori'aBennett Manufacturingpompany, Chicago lll. n 9 ApplicationMarch 10, 1934,"S erial No. 715,028

,9 Claims. (01; 81-31 There are various containers in usesuch as canspails and barrels having covers provided with fastening lugs and suchlugs are usually providedfwith holes for convenience in using a 5 toolsuch as a screwdriver for opening. the container. These covers areusually provided'with a considerable number of such lugs, I 6 being acommon number for standardsized pails. The present machine is for thepurpose of loosening 10 or prying out all of such'lugs simultaneously sothat the cover can be quickly removed. The objects of this invention areto provide a new machine for opening cansor containers which may bereadily applied to the container 15 a'nd'which will quickly pry out orrelease a. plu-.

rali ty of fastening lugs in a single operation; to provide a pailopening machine having a plu rality of lug bending or releasing memberswith means for simultaneously actuating the same; to 20 provide amachine of this character having opening members with chisel points orthe like adapted toengage with the holes in the cover lugs with meansfor directing the same into engagement with the holes and means foractuating the mem- 25 bers to'pry the lugs to open position; and toprovide such other novel features and advantages as will appear from thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention, a f 30 IFigure 1 is a vertical sectional view showing the machine applied to acan or pail {Figure 2 is a sectional plan view taken on the line'22 ofFigure 1; 1

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail illustrating the 35 operation of theopening tools or pries; and

Figure 4 is a detail of one of the opening pries or fingers. I l 7 Thepail or can 6 is shown with a cover I having lugs 8 with perforations 9of the kind re- 40 ferred'fto. The openingmachine has a base or supportI which fits closely within the recess portion of the cover and has aplurality of out-' wardly extending projections II which rest on the"top of the cover flange as shown in Figures 1 45 and 2.- A post I2extends upwardly from the center boss l3 of the base and isrigidly'secured to the base. A sleeve I4 is slidably mounted on the postI2 and is limited in its movement by a lower collar I5 and an uppercollar I6.- A plurality of 50 arms I! are pivoted at I8 to the sleeve I4and extend outwardly after the fashion of'umbrella ribs. These armsgenerally correspond to the number of lugs on the pails to be opened.They extend out through slots I8 between guide-posts 55" I9 which extendupwardly from the base I0 and which may beformed integrally therewith.The upper ends of these posts are connected by a ring 20 which alsoserves in the nature of a stop or guide for the arms. The lower edges ofthe arms rest on the shoulder 2| at the outer periphery of 5 the baseand slide in and out thereover. An annular resilient member such as acoil garter spring 22 engages with all of the arms I'I, each arm beingprovided with a clip 23 to hold the spring-in operative position. Thespring is under tension and tends to swing the arms downwardly againstthe shoulder or bearing 21. a

' Each arm I I has a lug engaging tool 24 pivoted at 25 thereto. Eachtool is in the nature of a pry or wedge-shaped'finger. which isbifurcated at its outer end or provided with a slot 26 for receiving theend of the arm IT. A shoulder 21 engages. with the lower edge of the armand limits the swinging movement of the pry in-one direction. Each pryis provided with a spring 28 which tends to hold it in raised orengaging position as shown in Figure 1. The inner end of each pry hasapoint or wedge-shaped portion 29 for engagementswith the hole or slot 9in the lug.

Two levers 30 are pivoted at 3| to the sleeve I4 and extend upwardly andoutwardly, being provided at their outer ends with handles .32. Togglelinks 33 are pivoted at their lower ends to brackets or bearings 34 onthe base I0 and are pivotally connected at their upper ends with thelevers 39 by means of pivots 34 which are spaced at a short distancefrom the inner ends of said levers.

"When a container is to be opened the operatorlifts the machine by thehandles 32 and 35 spots'it on the cover with the edges 29 of the openingpries .or'tools '24 opposedto the slots or. holes 9 in'the'lugs. He thenpresses down on the handles; thereby raising the sleeve I4 andconsequently the inner ends of the arms I1. 40 As these arms moveupwardly the wedges or points 29 enter the holes 9'as shown in dottedlines in Figure 3. The further action then simulates very closely theaction of a screw driver when usedfo'rthis purpose. As the sleevecontinues to move upwardlythe outer ends of the pries .24 swing upwardlyabout their inner points as centers until the inner faces of the priesengage-with the outer-edge of the cover bead or flange above the lugswhich tends to force the lower ends of the pries outwardly therebyprying-the lugs out until finally their lower ends swing out to theposition approximately shown in Figure 3, and thereby fully freeing thelugs from the pail flange or bead. During the final bending movement itwill be seen that as the handles 32 are swung downwardly there is atoggle action provided by the links 33 and the short pivoted ends of thehandle levers which greatly assist in making the final lug openingmovement comparatively easy.

When the handle levers 30 are again raised the sleeve l4 and other partsmove back to their initial or normal position and the springs 28 returnthe pries to their lug engaging positions as first described.

While the machine has been described in connection with the opening ofcovers having perforated lugs it will be noted that it may be adaptedfor other'types of lugs or for removing other types of covers andtherefore we do not Wish to have the invention limited to the particularapparatus shown and described except as specified in the followingclaims in which we claim:

1. A machine for opening containers having covers with inwardly bentfastening portions comprising a plurality .of opening members adapted toengage with saidiastening portions handles for operating the machine andmeans operated by downward movement of the handles for actuating saidmembers to cause them to engage with said fastening portions of thecover and to bend the same to releasing position.

2. An apparatus for releasing a cover having a plurality of fasteningportions from a container, comprising a plurality of opening membersadapted to engage with said fastening portions of the cover to bend thesame to open position, means for supporting said members, operatinglevers having handles for actuating said apparatus and means actuated bydownward movement of the handles of said operating levers forsimultaneously actuating all of said members to cause them to engagewith and release the fastening portions of the cover.

3. In a machinefor bending container cover lugs to opening position, thecombination of a base adapted to be positioned on, the cover, a postextending upwardly from the base, a sleeve slidably mounted on the post,a plurality of arms pivoted to the sleeve and extending radiallytherefrom, pries pivoted to the arms, springs tending to hold the priesin position to engage with the lugs, and means including downwardlypressed handle members for moving the sleeve upwardly to cause the priesto engage with the lugs and bend them to open position.

4. In a machine for opening cans or pails having covers provided withlugs having holes therethrough, the combination of a support to bepositioned on the pail cover, a center post extending upwardly from thesupport, a. sleeve mounted on the post, a plurality of arms extendingoutwardly from the sleeve, pries pivoted to the ends of the arms,springs engaging'with the arms and the pries and tending to hold thefree ends of the pries in raised or engaging position for entering saidholes, an annular spring engaging with the arms and tending to swingtheir lower ends inwardly, guides on the support for said arms,,handlelevers pivoted to the sleeve, and links pivotally connecting the handlelevers and the support, said links serving as iulcrums for the handlelevers when the same are moved downwardly to raise the sleeve, thearrangement being such that said pries will engage with the holes in thelugs and bend the lugs outwardly for the purposes described.

.5. In a container, opening machine, the combination of a base, a centerpost projecting upwardly from the base, a slide mounted on the post,arms extending outwardly from the slide, opening jaws pivoted to theouter ends of the arms and adapted to engage with lugs on the containercover for bending the same, bearings on the base, handle levers pivotedto the slide, and links connecting the handle levers and said bearings,the arrangement being such that when the handle levers are swungdownwardly the slide will be raised and the arms will cause the openingjaws to engage with the lugs and bend the same outwardly. 6. A canopening machine comprising a base for engagement with the can cover, apost extendingupwardly from the base, a slidable member mounted on saidpost, a plurality of arms extending outwardly from said member andslidably engaging with the outer periphery of the base, resilient meanstending to swing the lower ends of said arms inwardly, opening fingersplvoted to the outer ends of said arms and having chisel points forengagement with holes in the cover lugs, springs engaging with the armsand fingers and tending to hold the free ends of the fingers in raisedposition, handle levers pivoted to saidslidable member, and linksconnecting the handle levers andbase, the arrangement being such thatwhen the handles are swung downwardly the slidable member will be raisedand the arms will cause the opening fingers to engage with the coverlugs to pry them to open position. 7 V V '7. In a machine for openingcans having covers provided with closing lugshaving holes therethrough,the combination of a base adapted to fit within the cover, outwardlyextending projections on the base for engagement with the cover flange,a pluralityof pairs'of posts extending upwardly from the outer peripheryof the base and providing vertical guideways, a ring connecting theupper ends of the posts, a center post extending upwardly from the base,a slide on said post, manually operated means for reciprocating saidslide, a. plurality of arms pivotally connected with the post andextending outwardly through said guideways and adapted to bear on theouter periphery of the base, means tending to swing the arms downwardly,fingers having bifurcated outer ends pivotally connected with the outerends of the arms, springs engaging with the arms and the fingers tendingto swing the inner ends of the fingers upwardly against the arms,saidfingers being straight on one side and beveled on the opposite sideto provide wedge-like ends, the arrangement being such that when theslide is raised the fingers will engage with the holes in the lugs andwill then swing on their pivots until they engage with the bead of thecover, thereby causing the engaging ends to swing outwardly and bend thelugs to releasing position.

8. In a pail opening machine, the combination of a support forengagement with the pail cover, a post extending upwardly from thesupport, a sleeve slidably mounted on the post, handle levers pivotallyconnected with the sleeve, links connecting the handle levers with thebase and providing fulcrums forzsaid levers, radially arranged armspivotally connected with the sleeve and adapted to slide on the outeredge of the support, vertical guideways on the support for said arms, agarter spring engaging with all of said arms and tending to swing thesame inwardly, pries pivotally mounted at the outerends of said arms andhaving sharpened inner ends for engagement with the cover lugs, springstending to hold the pries in initial engaging position, said pries beingadapted to engage with the cover bead to swing the lower ends of thepries outwardly after they have been brought into engagement with thecover lugs.

9. In a machine for opening pails having covers provided with closinglugs which are bent under a flange on the pail ifor holding the cover inposition, the combination of a base which engages with and is supportedby the pail cover during the opening operation, a series ofcircumferentially arranged opening fingers which i engage with the lugsto bend them to free the cover from the pail, movable supports mountedon the base for supporting said fingers in normal position to engagewith said lugs, manually operable means coasting with the base and saidsupports for moving the supports, and means for pivotally mounting saidfingers on said supports whereby the ends of the fingers will moveinwardly to engage with the lugs and then swing outwardly to pry thelugs to opening position when the supports are actuated by said manuallyoperable means.

LESLIE R. TANSLEY.

JOHN S. TOWNSEND.

